How billionaire John Ruiz is giving millions to UM players and why he says it’s worth it
He has become the Knight in Shining Armor for Hurricanes fans, the well-intentioned billionaire with the seemingly bottomless budget and an unwavering willingness to spend millions of dollars on University of Miami players and transfer targets.
Among people who are not employed by UM, John Ruiz has become perhaps the most significant person in Miami Hurricanes athletics, and he has done it by working to sign more than 100 active Canes athletes to marketing deals to promote two of his companies, LifeWallet and Cigarette Racing.
From a national standpoint, Ruiz was maneuvering under the radar until he announced last Saturday, via Twitter, that Kansas State transfer and standout guard Nijel Pack “has officially committed to UM as a basketball player. The biggest LifeWallet deal to date, two years $800,000.00 total at $400,000.00 per year plus a car. Congratulations!!!”
That news came two days after twins Haley and Hanna Cavinder — social media stars with more than five million total followers — announced they are transferring from Fresno State to UM to continue their basketball careers, in the wake of a meeting with Ruiz that resulted in NIL deals for both, the terms of which have not been disclosed.
And that followed deals with UCLA football transfers Mitchell Agude and Caleb Johnson, who will upgrade the Hurricanes’ front seven on the field while driving luxury vehicles free of charge off of it (in exchange for promoting Ruiz’s companies).
Since then, Arkansas State standout basketball player Norchad Omier and Maryland defensive tackle Darrell Jackson announced they’re transferring to UM and signing deals with Ruiz, who declined to disclose terms at the request of the players.
From all indications, there’s a good chance most or all seven of those players would have committed to UM without Ruiz’s riches, though there’s obviously no way of knowing for sure.
As an example, Pack’s NIL agent said his client was committing to UM regardless. Jackson told Canesport that Ruiz’s offer “helps, but really what made this decision was Miami’s coaches.”
Ruiz, who continues to explore building a football stadium for UM, already has spent more than $5 million of his own money on deals for UM athletes.
As of Monday, 61 Canes players had signed agreements to promote LifeWallet (a health tech company) and another seven had contracts with Ruiz to promote Cigarette Racing, which specializes in custom-made, high-performance powerboats. Omier and Jackson then agreed to terms Tuesday.
Another 48 deals with Hurricane athletes are pending. So that’s 111… and counting.
And Ruiz is an equal-opportunity benefactor, dishing out deals to everyone from the new star edge rusher (Agude) to the long snapper (Clay James).
How much additional money does Ruiz have allocated to spend on Hurricanes student-athletes this year?
“We set a budget of about $10 million when I started for the year, but we’re not stuck at $10 million,” he said.
Besides the intrinsic joy of helping his alma mater win games, Ruiz maintains the deals are good business, generating the type of publicity for his companies that would otherwise be unthinkable.
“Right now, we’re getting a huge return for Nijel Pack,” he said in a phone conversation Monday. “I’ve almost hit five million [social media] impressions, which is phenomenal. This is a really good investment for the return.”
Ruiz, who has a law degree, wants to make clear that he is meticulously following and abiding by all NCAA rules and Florida laws regarding how college players can benefit from their name, image and likeness.
“I am never going to do anything that is going to break a rule,” he said. “If I do something improper from an NCAA statute [perspective], the ones that get hurt are the kids and the school. I’ve got to be super extra careful. I always take the most conservative approach. We have 30 attorneys here. We provide contracts to UM, and we’re in contact with their compliance department.”
So how exactly is the process working? Do UM football and basketball officials feed him names of portal players to pursue? Does he reach out to athletes directly in the portal?
Ruiz set the record straight on what he does and what he does not do:
▪ He said that UM never calls encouraging him to offer NIL deals to any particular recruits or players in the portal. Ruiz said he and his sons — who both attended UM, as did his daughter — monitor recruiting and portal news closely, on all social media platforms, and internally discuss the possibilities so they’re prepared.
He said nobody from UM has called to thank him, nor is he expecting that, but “I know the university is thankful. They are very thankful. I have spoken to [athletic director] Dan Radakovich because I’ve run into him. [With the coaches], on purpose, I try to keep a distance, though I know them all fairly well.”
UM declined to comment on the record for this story, but a source in the administration said: “John is a great supporter and great businessman and in this case, his decision to partner with young people to promote his product launch is unique.”
▪ Of the transfers signed by the football team and the men’s and women’s basketball teams, Ruiz said he spoke directly to only two before they decided to commit to UM: the Cavinder twins.
“I met with them and their parents,” he said. “We had a long conversation. They’re an incredible family. We didn’t talk too much about money. I thought the best platform for them was to create a podcast.” Ruiz believes the Cavinder twins liked that idea.
The twins did not cite their deal with Ruiz as a major factor in their decision. “When we got on campus, there was just a vibe and a feeling you get when you know it is the right decision,” Haley Cavinder said. “With Coach Katie [Meier] and the leader she is and what she has done with the program, there is something that we were so attracted to, and we knew when leaving Miami that we wanted to come back.”
Ruiz said he also spoke directly to five-star defensive end Shemar Stewart before Stewart picked Texas A&M over UM on National Signing Day in February.
Asked earlier this spring if he would be surprised if Stewart someday ends up playing for the Hurricanes, Mo Marquez — a Miami Gardens Monsignor Pace High assistant coach who guided Stewart through recruiting - said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens.”
▪ Ruiz said that before Pack picked UM, “I made sure I conveyed to him and his agent that it was my intention [to offer him an NIL deal], that I thought it was favorable for him.”
Ruiz said Pack’s NIL agent initiated those discussions, and Ruiz didn’t speak directly with Pack before the agreement was consummated.
The deal reached that high value ($800,000 plus a car) because there was a competitive market for Pack, and Ruiz considered him one of the two best players in the portal.
Pack signed with UM on Friday but didn’t reveal it until Saturday, minutes before Ruiz’s disclosure of Pack’s NIL deal.
While many of the 109 players don’t want terms of their contracts revealed, Pack was an exception.
“I thought it was favorable for him, that if we were to disclose the amount it would be positive because it would provide him with even higher NIL value,” Ruiz said.
Pack’s NIL agent, Austin Walton, said the Ruiz offer “wasn’t the determining factor” in Pack’s decision to transfer to UM, adding that the Hurricanes “did an amazing job recruiting Nijel. [Assistant coach Bill] Courtney and [Jim Larranaga] were awesome through and through. Tremendous job actually.
“It was a pleasure working with the Ruiz family and I think the deal with LifeWallet just affirmed what we thought of Miami and how they valued him. He was a priority for UM and the style fit like a glove. The need was there, too” with point guard Charlie Moore out of college eligibility.
Ruiz also had conversations with representation for Omier, the Sun Belt Player of the Year at Arkansas State last season, before he picked Miami over FSU, Texas Tech and Georgetown. He said he picked UM because “they have a great coaching staff. It was the best fit for me. Their style of play, the league they’re in, the exposure.”
▪ Ruiz said he had no direct contact with the UCLA transfers — Johnson and Agude — before they picked UM. As their recruiting unfolded, Ruiz said both of those players’ NIL agents called Ruiz asking about Ruiz’s interest in signing both to NIL deals, and Ruiz was receptive to giving them deals that included use of luxury vehicles.
Neither player, in interviews, cited the NIL deals as primary factors in their decision to transfer to UM.
“Miami, the people are great,” Johnson told Canesport. “I love the way they coach, their energy in practice. [Linebackers coach Charlie] Strong is pretty much a legend, having him as a position coach, that’s a huge deal. And I already know what to expect with Mitchell going down there.”
Agude mentioned his high regard for UM’s coaches - and how they plan to use him - as a major reason for joining UM.
But Agude — with a new Cadillac, courtesy of Ruiz, told The Athletic: “Just meeting [Ruiz] you can just tell he cares about Miami. He doesn’t need to be doing this. But it’s just coming from his heart. He likes taking care of everyone. His house is ridiculous. It’s like a resort. I wasn’t expecting to get a car, but through my mom talking to him and he just asking me what I need, I got sent to the dealership. I said I like this car and then he took care of it.”
Ruiz has struck deals with five UM transfer football players — Henry Parrish, Frank Ladson, Agude, Johnson and the newest, Maryland’s Jackson.
Of his 111 executed or pending deals with UM athletes, only three of Ruiz’s deals involve free use of a vehicle: Agude, Johnson and Pack.
(Four other Hurricanes football players got car deals arranged by competing agents Drew Rosenhaus and Malki Kawa.)
Among portal targets being pursued by UM, Ruiz said he doesn’t initiate most of the calls to the NIL agents.
“I got contacted by agents,” he said. “The agents in the country know us already. Most of the time I get called now, [it’s after] the kid has pretty much decided he will come to UM. Whoever comes to Miami I will provide a fair market deal to.”
▪ Ruiz said he has spoken to Class of 2023 and 2024 football recruits about the NIL possibilities if they enroll at UM.
▪ He said this is not pay-for-play but pay-for-work, that each of the 111 UM players with executed or pending contracts must make significant time commitments to promote his companies.
“They come here and we film just about every Friday,” Ruiz said. “School comes first, their obligation to team comes second but they’re required to come here and film.”
Is he getting a kick out of being able to directly help UM snag players who will help the teams?
“Absolutely,” he said. “I am a Hurricane fan. I want the team to win.”
But he said he also takes satisfaction in the players getting a good UM “education and utilize what they’ve learned and understanding better how to run businesses… and network with other people. That’s invaluable.”
With Ruiz, there’s always the tantalizing carrot of what’s next.
“Caught everyone off guard by creating a by the book NIL Platform,” he tweeted this week before the Omier and Jackson announcements. “And it’s only [going to] get even better. This week big things coming.”
He knows this for sure: He couldn’t have dreamed of creating this type of brand awareness for his companies before this new NIL era of college sports.
“Everyone now knows LifeWallet and Cigarette and Nijel Pack,” Ruiz said. “Every school is scrambling to figure out how on Earth did LifeWallet and Cigarette come up with this platform and how have we made so much more progress than anyone in the country.”
Miami Herald sports writer Michelle Kaufman contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 27, 2022 at 3:59 PM.
